2. In the lobby.
Hans:
Hi, Cindy. I thought I’d missed you.
嗨，辛迪。我以為我錯過你了。
Girl:
Oh, I am very sorry, Hans. Thank you for waiting for me. You must have been here a long time already.
噢，真對不起，漢斯。謝謝你等我。你一定在這里等了很久了。
Hans:
It’s all right.
沒關(guān)系。
Girl:
I was caught in the heavy rain, or I would have come earlier. I am sorry I kept you waiting.
我趕上下雨了，不然我會早一點到。很抱歉，讓你久等了。
Hans:
I was in a comfortable place, so really, it’s no problem. I am happy to see you. Did the rain hold you up long?
我等的地方很舒適，真的，沒關(guān)系的。我很高興見到你。你被雨礙了很長時間嗎？
Girl:
Yes. When I came out of the subway, it was raining cats and dogs. And I forgot my umbrella. So I had to wait for the rain to let up.
是啊。我從地鐵站一出來，就下著傾盆大雨。而我忘了帶傘。所以我只好等雨小一點。
Hans:
I totally understand.
我完全理解。
Helpful Information：
Things don’t often happen the way we expect. We may miss a lot of important things in life, but we shouldn’t miss the understanding of one another.
很多時候事情都不會按照我們想象的發(fā)展。生命中我們可能錯過很多重要的東西，但是我們不應(yīng)該錯過相互的理解。
3. Gary and Evelyn are boyfriend and girlfriend. They’re going to see a movie together on campus. They’re supposed to meet in front of the theater at five to seven, five minutes before the movie starts. And now it’s seven o’clock and Gary still hasn’t appeared. She decides to look for him at his apartment. (Evelyn is knocking the door.)
Gary:
Come in, come in！
進(jìn)來，進(jìn)來!
Evelyn:
Hi, Gary, what happened? I was waiting for you at the theater. Why didn’t you meet me there?
嗨，加里，發(fā)生了什么事？我在電影院等你。你為什么沒去那里和我碰面呢？
Gary:
I thought we were supposed to meet HERE.
我原以為我們說好了在這里見面。
Evelyn:
Don’t you know our movie starts at seven? And we were going to meet at the theater at five to seven. Then it doesn’t make sense to meet at the apartment.
你難道不知道我們的電影七點開始嗎？而且我們又打算七點差五分在電影院見面。那在公寓見面就沒有道理了嘛。
Gary:
I’m sorry. We must have misunderstood each other.
對不起。我們肯定是相互誤解了。
Evelyn:
Why don’t you try to be clearer about your intentions?
你的意圖為什么就不想清楚一點呢？
Gary:
You’re right. I am sorry. Let’s go and watch the movie.
你說得對。對不起。我們?nèi)タ措娪鞍伞?br>
Evelyn:
It’s okay. I don’t want to go now. We’ve already missed ten minutes of the movie. I don’t want to see a movie without watching the beginning.
沒關(guān)系?，F(xiàn)在我不想走了。我們都已經(jīng)錯過十分鐘的電影了。我不想看電影不看開頭。
4. Sorry I’m late.
A high-school student from Brazil is visiting several American universities5 with her parents. They are waiting to see the dean of a small college in Maine.
Father:
I see you've brought something to occupy your time while we wait. Good. We may be here a long time.
我知道你帶了一些東西過來，在我們等的時候來打發(fā)你的時間。這樣好。我們可能要在這里呆很長時間。
Isabel:
Yes, Papa. I brought the catalog6 for the next college we're going to visit--the one in New Hampshire.
是啊，爸爸。我把我們將要去的下一個學(xué)院的目錄表帶來了－在新罕布什爾的那個。
Mother:
Maybe we won't have to wait long. We've only been here fifteen minutes.
也許我們不要等很久。我們到這里才十五分鐘。
Isabel:
I'm not used to the way they treat time here. They wouldn't see me at that place in Massachusetts yesterday. I missed the appointment because I was forty-five minutes late. That's no time at all back in Brazil.
我不習(xí)慣他們這里這樣對待時間。昨天在馬薩諸塞州那個地方他們就不會見我。就因為我遲了四十五分鐘，我連面試都錯過了。在巴西，這點時間根本就不算什么。
Father:
It’s just that North Americans pay more attention to exact times. They're very punctual people.
美國北方人就是更注重時間的準(zhǔn)確性。他們很守時。
Mother:
I think that if you're more than thirty minutes late, you have to apologize and explain what delayed you.
我想如果你遲到超過三十分鐘，你就得道歉并且解釋是什么延誤了你。
Father:
Our appointment with this dean is for three-fifteen. My watch says three-thirty. I'm sure we’re not late.
(The dean comes out of his office.)
我們和這位系主任的約面時間是三點十五分。我的手表是三點半。我想我們沒遲到。（系主任從他的辦公室出來。）
Dean:
Isabel? Come in. Sorry I kept you waiting. We're running a little behind schedule today.伊莎貝爾？
請進(jìn)。對不起讓你久等了。今天我們比預(yù)計時間晚了一點。
重點詞匯
1.hold up 阻礙，攔截
2. let up 減少，暫停，減緩
3. make sense 使人懂，合理
4. intention 意圖,意向,目的
5. university 大寢室，團(tuán)體寢室
6. catalog 目錄;目錄冊,目錄簿
7. punctual 嚴(yán)守時刻的;準(zhǔn)時的
8. behind schedule 落后于預(yù)計時間
